In addition to Christmas Day, the Lutheran calendar includes St Stephen’s Day (second day of Christmas), St John the Apostle (third day of Christmas), and Holy Innocents’ Day (fourth day of Christmas). In the Catholic Church nearly all of the days after Christmas are feast days and even the weekdays are included in the Christmas Octave (a period of eight days) and are therefore considered special. The Orthodox Church celebrates December 26 as the Synaxis of the Most Holy Theotokos (God-bearer, Mother of God). In the Orthodox Church, the Christmas period ends on December 31.
